In a time when we no longer have leadership we can trust, when we are looking for authenticity, transparency and thinking seven generations ahead; when we need all humans to accept sovereignty of not just themselves, but the animals, trees, rocks, rivers and the unseen, I love the idea that now is the time when we need to look to the Weird. Ha ha! Especially since most of the “weird” have been ostracised by society for eons.
But now the world is changing and perhaps us weird will have a voice. Perhaps as author Michael Meade explains, we will become the voice of the Tribal Elder. Not to lead or be authoritarian, but to share the knowledge and wisdom we glean from having a foot in each world. And that knowledge respected for what it is– usually a path of the heart to deliver the tribe to safe shores. In the old days this was the tribal shaman.. the bridge between this world and the others, The one who spoke the Universal Language of Silence all beings speak. The healer.
I love this quote from author Michael Meade on Elders.
“In old traditions those who acted as elders were considered to have one foot in daily life and the other foot in the otherworld. Elders acted as a bridge between the visible world and the unseen realms of spirit and soul. A person in touch with the otherworld stands out because something normally invisible can be seen through them. The old word for having a foot in each world is weird. The original sense of weird involved both fate and destiny. Becoming weird enough to be wise requires that a person learn to accommodate the strange way they are shaped within and aimed at the world.
An old idea suggests that those seeking for an elder should look for someone weird enough to be wise. For just as there can be no general wisdom, there are no “normal” elders. Normal bespeaks the “norms” that society uses to regulate people, whereas an awakened destiny always involves connections to the weird and the warp of life. In Norse mythology, as in Shakespeare, the Fates appear as the Weird Sisters who hold time and the timeless together.
“Those who would become truly wise must become weird enough to be in touch with timeless things and abnormal enough to follow the guidance of the unseen. Elders are supposed to be weird, not simply “weirdos,” but strange and unusual in meaningful ways. Elders are supposed to be more in touch with the otherworld, but not out of touch with the struggles in this world. Elders have one foot firmly in the ground of survival and another in the realm of great imagination. This double-minded stance serves to help the living community and even helps the species survive.”
~ Michael Meade~
So now we are at the brink of survival, let’s call together a Circle of Elders. If you are “weird”, put your hand up. Let’s gather in service of the whole.